- In response to the terrible oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Gov. Bob McDonnell says that we must start drilling for oil ASAP off the coast of Virginia because… um, drilling for oil is so safe? (WaPo)
- While everyone else in Florida is distracted by Charlie Crist, State Sen. Mike Bennett (R-Bradenton) is taking the opportunity to check out some internet porn while sitting on the Senate floor. (Sunshine State News)
- And speaking of Florida, Gov. Crist says his state might sue BP for oil spill damages. Government taking money from a corporation… he really isn’t a Republican anymore! (Reuters)
- Is there anything funnier than Barack Obama, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi all drowning? Not to Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), there isn’t! (The Hill)
Archive for posts ‘Barack Obama’
Things Republicans “Never” Do
- An open-carry gun rally in Maine worried African-American and other residents who saw the prominently-featured Confederate flags waving above anti-Obama signs. But remember: Republicans “never” use President Obama’s race to provoke anger. (Portland Daily Sun)
- Democrats will keep the Senate in session overnight to force Republicans to actually filibuster financial regulatory reform after they voted for the third time in as many days to prevent bringing the bill to the floor. But remember: Republicans “never” obstruct legislation for political purposes. (The Hill)
- Since they can’t actually shoot President Obama, one Pennsylvania conservative group plans to fire bullets into Obama Care and other presidential policy initiatives. But remember: Republicans “never” encourage violent acts (Think Progress)
- The Arizona agency which trains law enforcement officers wants assistance from the federal government for training police officers to enforce the state’s new, and probably unconstitutional, immigration law. But remember: Republicans “never” complain about federal expansion into “states’ rights” issues. (USA Today)
- Sen. John McCain is a huge fan of Arizona’s terrible new immigration law even though he is not sure “whether all of it is legal or not.” Is there anything more mavericky than supporting a law that you think is maybe illegal? (Arizona Daily Star)
- Meanwhile, even Florida’s teabagger Senate candidate Marco Rubio does not like this law, probably because he does not want his orange-skinned opponent Charlie Crist to be deported back to the sun. (HuffPo)
- Your New York Times editors would like the Senate to maybe consider working on two important issues, like, say, climate change and immigration, at the same time. Silly editors, this is the United States Senate we’re talking about. (NYT)
- Oh hey, Wall Street firms are donating more money to Republican candidates than ever before. But this is probably just because they love freedom so much, not because the GOP is blocking new regulations for the financial industry. (WSJ)
- Lobbyists for the coal mining industry say President Obama has declared war on the mining industry, apparently by handing out huge subsidies for nonsensical “clean coal” technology and promising the friends and relatives of dead miners that he will make mines safer to work in. (Think Progress)
- Pretty much nobody from my generation goes to church anymore, which someone is probably going to blame on Barack Obama for getting us all hooked on his Kenyan Muslim Jeremiah Wright Socialism. (USA Today)
- Mark Halperin is deeply disappointed at the “toxic freak-show nature of our politico-media culture” which has been perpetrated by people such as Mark Halperin. (TIME via Balloon Juice)
- Remember that time the House of Representatives unanimously passed a law (seriously, they did) in response to the RNC sending out mailers that looked like census forms? Apparently this law does not apply to the RNC, according to its spokesman. (AP/TPM)
- A North Carolina man was arrested for “trying to meet Obama” while carrying a gun and driving a fake police car. So, uh, good thing that they didn’t actually meet. (AP)
- Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) is now totally in love with the healthcare reform law, which will help keep his older constituents alive long enough to vote for him again, which he totally opposed when it was a bill and now says is unconstitutional. (Think Progress x3)
- Most Americans would like President Obama to regulate the shit out of banks and financial institutions with his Kenyan voodoo socialism. (WaPo)
- When aliens eventually do find us, they will take one look at Politico Click and then destroy all of humanity, and who could blame them? says noted scientist Stephen Hawking. (Times of London)
- Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is insistent that Charlie Crist stay in Florida’s Republican primary, a primary which Crist is definitely going to lose. Why is Mitch McConnell so racist to orange-skinned people? (Fox News)
- Oh hey, looks like Goldman Sachs knew that they were destroying the housing market and American and global economies but totally did not care because they were also making a shit-ton of money. Woooo capitalism! (MarketWatch)
- President Obama promised to improve mine safety in his eulogy for the 29 miners killed in West Virginia’s Upper Big Branch Mine. Might I suggest starting with mine owner Massey Energy’s reckless disregard for mine safety standards? (Christian Science Monitory/BusinessInsider)
- Spanish doctors claim to have successfully completed the world’s first full-face transplant. Woohoo, faces for everyone! (BBC)
- Surprise! Looks like dark-skinned people in Arizona are not thrilled with the state’s new law which would require police to racially profile them. Who could have predicted? (CNN)
- “Dozens” of SEC employees spent their work days fapping to their massive internet porn collections instead of preventing the collapse of the global economy. Whoops! (WaPo)
- Your US Air Force just launched an unmanned space plane into orbit for “unspecified experiments.” This is probably how Skynet started. (AP)
- Harry Reid will make Senators choose between basic financial regulatory reform (socialism) and letting bankers do whatever the fuck they want with the world economy (capitalism/freedom) on Monday. (The Hill)
- Sarah Palin is sad that the Pentagon will not let evangelist Franklin Graham come to their Prayer Day and talk about why he hates Muslims so much. (ThinkProgress/CNN)
- Barack Obama does not care for Arizona’s terrible new immigration bill, which would require Arizona cops to lock people like Obama up for the crime of lookin’ funny. (WSJ)
- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been running a secret torture prison in Baghdad without the knowledge of his own Human Rights Ministry. Good thing we got rid of that Saddam guy! (LA Times)
- Armed wingnuts will be gathering in a Virginia national park, which they can only do because of President Obama and the federal government, to protest President Obama and the federal government. (WaPo)
- The same Christians who whine about “special rights for homosexuals” (like being able to visit dying loved ones in the hospital) would now like to have the special right to discriminate against people they don’t like. (NPR)
- The rest of the world does not hate America as much now as they did when George W. Bush was president. Obviously this means that President Obama is surrendering to Europe and their Freedom Toast. (BBC)
- Chairman of the Joint Chief Adm. Mike Mullen says we should definitely not attack Iran, even if they might be developing nuclear weapons. Why does this lowly admiral hate war hero maverick John McCain so much? (Wired)
- Our Vice President Joe Biden will be on “The View” this Thursday. What hilarious gaffe will he make to offend Elisabeth Hasselbeck and all of America’s women, at once? (CNN)
The Dangers of Air Travel
Along with many other leaders, President Obama will not travel to Poland for the funeral of former President Lech Kaczynski due to the large volcanic ash cloud emanating from Iceland grounding flights across Europe. Under the circumstances, you can’t really blame them.
- Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) is deeply concerned that the Soviets will win the Cold War thanks to President Obama’s new NASA policy. (HuffPo)
- Former Sen. Connie Mack (R-FL) is stepping down as chairman of Charlie Crist’s basically failed Senate campaign. (Miami Herald)
- America’s NATO is killing more civilians in Afghanistan than last year. Time to break out the old “Mission Accomplished” banner, I guess. (USA Today)
- Our President doesn’t understand why the teabaggers are still so mad at him after he dramatically cut their taxes. But I’m sure their anger has nothing to do with race. (CNN)
- Hahaha, your Securities and Exchange Committee is suing Goldman Sachs for fraud. Obviously, any regulation of the financial industry of uber-socialism. (Forbes)
Obama: Let Hospital Patients Choose Who Can Visit
Good for the President. It’s about damn time:
MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
SUBJECT: Respecting the Rights of Hospital Patients to Receive Visitors and to Designate Surrogate Decision Makers for Medical Emergencies
There are few moments in our lives that call for greater compassion and companionship than when a loved one is admitted to the hospital. In these hours of need and moments of pain and anxiety, all of us would hope to have a hand to hold, a shoulder on which to lean — a loved one to be there for us, as we would be there for them.
Yet every day, all across America, patients are denied the kindnesses and caring of a loved one at their sides — whether in a sudden medical emergency or a prolonged hospital stay. Often, a widow or widower with no children is denied the support and comfort of a good friend. Members of religious orders are sometimes unable to choose someone other than an immediate family member to visit them and make medical decisions on their behalf. Also uniquely affected are gay and lesbian Americans who are often barred from the bedsides of the partners with whom they may have spent decades of their lives — unable to be there for the person they love, and unable to act as a legal surrogate if their partner is incapacitated.
For all of these Americans, the failure to have their wishes respected concerning who may visit them or make medical decisions on their behalf has real onsequences. It means that doctors and nurses do not always have the best information about patients’ medications and medical histories and that friends and certain family members are unable to serve as intermediaries to help communicate patients’ needs. It means that a stressful and at times terrifying experience for patients is senselessly compounded by indignity and unfairness. And it means that all too often, people are made to suffer or even to pass away alone, denied the comfort of companionship in their final moments while a loved one is left worrying and pacing down the hall.
…
By this memorandum, I request that you take the following steps:1. Initiate appropriate rulemaking, pursuant to your authority under 42 U.S.C. 1395x and other relevant provisions of law, to ensure that hospitals that participate in Medicare or Medicaid respect the rights of patients to designate visitors. It should be made clear that designated visitors, including individuals designated by legally valid advance directives (such as durable powers of attorney and health care proxies), should enjoy visitation privileges that are no more restrictive than those that immediate family members enjoy. You should also provide that participating hospitals may not deny visitation privileges on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The rulemaking should take into account the need for hospitals to restrict visitation in medically appropriate circumstances as well as the clinical decisions that medical professionals make about a patient’s care or treatment.
I wonder who will be the first wingnut to scream bloody murder about this new rule, the purpose of which is, among other reasons, to allow nuns to visit their sisters in the hospital.
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